Chicago Sports

Until this fall, Ben Snider’s claim to fame in football was winning a championship in intramural flag football as a freshman.

Now the Stevenson senior has some bigger bullet points for his resume, including the single-game program record for receiving yards: 236, in a Week 2 win vs. New Trier.

Not bad for a guy who never played a game of tackle football in his life before August.

It isn’t that Snider’s not athletic. He’s played baseball, basketball and soccer, and also ran track at varioustimes.

But it wasn’t till some Stevenson football players and coaches made their pitch that the 6-4, 180-pounder decided to take the plunge.

“A few of my friends on the team, quarterback Matt Projansky and running back Mike Maloney, told me to come out and play,” Snider said. “”As a friend, could you come out and join the team?’ And here we are.”

Also part of the recruiting effort was assistant coach Brian Burja. “He saw me in the weight room and was like, ‘Have you ever touched a football before?'” Snider said.

Thecampaign paid off with Snider joining the football program for summer workouts.

“At first, it was more of me learning my routes, shadowing [teammate] Charlie Skolnik,” Snider said. “I was kind of like a baby bird, right? Getting out of the nest.”

Snider is grateful for the chance to play right away. “I think it’s crazy, the trust [coaches] had in me,” he said.

The Patriots started their season with a loss to powerhouse Maine South but in Week 2, Snider had his breakout game against New Trier.

Being goal-oriented, he looked up the program records and knew the Stevenson single-game receiving mark was 213 yards. He didn’t know until the game wasover that he’d broken it, however.

“After the game, it started to sink in,” Snider said. “I went back on the field and stared at the lights. It was surreal.”

He gives much of the credit to his quarterback. “It was because of Proj [Projansky] being able to throw the deep ball,” Snider said.

Through four games, Snider had 19 catches for 495 yards and five touchdowns. He’s aiming to be a 1,000-yard receiver and to help the Patriots reach the IHSA playoffs.

As a senior, he’s also thinking about his future. Until this fall, it looked more likely to be in college baseball since he’s been playing travel ball for a while. Now, who knows? It could be football.

One of the things to consider, as Snider freely admits, is he’s not close to his ceiling in football.

“I’m not finely tuned,” he said. “I still have a lot of work to be done. … Coming into the season, I didn’t know much about football. I hate to say it, I barely know most of the rules today.

“[But] I’m definitely thinking more seriously about my future in this sport.”

It’s not something he ever really considered when he was a little kid going to Stevenson games as a fan. But lately he’s been watching some Hudl videos of past Patriots star receivers like Cameron Green, who went on to a successful career at Northwestern after helping Stevenson win a state title in 2014.

And now, he’s up on the leaderboard himself.

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Shots have been fired inside a Chicago Police Department facility in North Lawndale, a department spokesman said Monday.

Two ambulances were sent to the Chicago Police Evidence and Recovered Property building at 1011 S. Homan Ave., Chicago fire spokesperson Larry Merritt said. He couldn’t confirm if the ambulances were sent to treat gunshot victims.

The shooting apparently happened on the fifth floor of the building, according to police radio traffic. The alleged shooter was placed in custody and was being transported from the facility.

This is a developing story, check back for details.

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The White Sox have three routes they could take for their manager next season

According to a report from Bob Nightengale, the White Sox front office is currently divided on who should be managing the team in 2023.

While current Manager Tony La Russa still has one more year left on his contract, recent health issues have ended his season and put his future with the team in question. Sox fans have also voiced displeasure with La Russa’s managing all season, and blame him for the team’s underachieving.

Another option the White Sox are considering is letting interim manager Miguel Cairo get a full season at the helm next year. While the White Sox did get hot when Cairo originally took over, the team has lost their last six games and been completely eliminated from the divisional race. Certain managerial decisions have hurt the Sox late in games as well, so some people believe a promotion would not fix the team that much.

The last route some in the Sox front office are considering is bringing in a manager from outside the organization. While no names have been confirmed yet, experienced managers like Bruce Bochy or Joe Girardi could be possible candidates for them this offseason. Hiring a manager with no experience is unlikely since the White Sox needs an immediate turnaround next year.

While there is no indication of which route is most likely for the White Sox right now, this process is sure to be a major story throughout the next offseason. What is for sure is that the front office will need to get this decision right if they want to keep their World Series window open.

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The NFL is replacing the Pro Bowl with weeklong skills competitions and a flag football game, The Associated Press has learned.

The new event will replace the full-contact showcase started in 1951. It will be renamed “The Pro Bowl Games” and will feature AFC and NFC players showcasing their football and non-football skills in challenges over several days. The 2023 Games will be held in Las Vegas, and the flag football game at Allegiant Stadium is Sunday, Feb. 5.

Peyton Manning and his Omaha Productions company will help shape programming and promote the event’s content throughout the week. Manning, a 14-time Pro Bowl pick during his Hall of Fame career, will provide his perspective and will also be a part of the coaching staff for flag game.

“The Pro Bowl is something that we’ve been looking at for a while, really continuing to evolve,” NFL executive Peter O’Reilly told The Associated Press. “Coming out of last year’s game, we really made the decision based on a lot of internal conversations, getting feedback from GMs and coaches, getting a lot of feedback from players. We think there’s a real opportunity to do something wholly different here and move away from the traditional tackle football game. We decided the goal is to celebrate 88 of the biggest stars in the NFL in a really positive, fun, yet competitive way.

“The feedback very directly from guys who had been in the Pro Bowl recently was to keep the construct of the week, make sure you’re having that multi-day element. It was overwhelmingly positive both from players as well as from clubs.”

The Pro Bowl debuted in January of 1951 in Los Angeles and stayed there for 21 seasons before the game moved to different cities from 1972-80. Hawaii hosted from 1980-2009, and the game has had several homes in the years since, including Miami, Phoenix, Orlando and Las Vegas.

Quality of play in the Pro Bowl has often been criticized. Players, understandably concerned about getting hurt, treat it as an exhibition more than competition. A flag football game could increase competition while avoiding potential injuries resulting from tackling, blocking and hitting.

The NFL has a major interest in flag football. The league partnered with the International Federation of American Football to bring flag football to The World Games in July with an eye on the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

“You tap into all the stuff that feels great about Pro Bowl week, the skills, the helmets off, the engagement and then culminate that, keeping the AFC-NFC construct, in something that’s really important, which is flag football and that opportunity to have the best athletes in the NFL out there playing this game that is so much about the future of our sport,” said O’Reilly, the league’s executive vice president, club business and league events. “It’s been an evolution, but coming out of Las Vegas last year, we really focused on how do we reinvent and celebrate our all-stars even better.”

The league plans to announce the new format on Monday.

“The Pro Bowl has always been a time to step back and celebrate the game of football with teammates, fans and family,” Manning told the AP. “I’m thankful I can continue to be part of the week as all of us at Omaha Productions work with the NFL to reimagine The Pro Bowl Games. Making Sunday’s game a flag football game is great to see. Youth football has been extremely important to me, and knowing NFL FLAG will help grow this sport, I hope boys and girls can see themselves playing the same game as the best players in the world.”

Fan voting will still help determine the AFC and NFC team rosters. Tom Brady has the most invitations to the Pro Bowl with 15. Four players got 14 invites, including Manning. The East-West Shrine Bowl will be held at Allegiant Stadium on Thursday, Feb. 2.

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The Bears won, but why does it feel like they didn’t? Patrick Finley and Jason Lieser break down the 23-20 win Sunday and why the quarterback struggled.

New episodes of “Halas Intrigue” will be published regularly with accompanying stories collected on the podcast’s hub page. You can also listen to “Halas Intrigue” wherever you get your podcasts, including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Luminary, Spotify, and Stitcher.

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The Bears have a lot to sort through after scraping by the Texans 23-20 on Sunday, starting with quarterback Justin Fields’ ugly game and running back David Montgomery’s leg injury.

Here are three takeaways from the win:

Johnson out

The Bears’ top cornerback, Jaylon Johnson, missed the game with a quad injury. Johnson, who played nearly every snap in the first two games, got hurt in practice and was inactive against the Texans.

More of the same

Fields was hardly the first Bears quarterback to have a nightmarish performance and still win. It’s a bit of a tradition around here. The last one to post a sub-30 passer rating and escape with victory was Todd Collins in 2010. He completed 6 of 16 passes for 32 yards and threw four interceptions for a 6.2 rating in the Bears’ 23-6 over the Panthers.

Butkus ad-libs

Bears great Dick Butkus made an appearance during the game and after waxing poetic about his years playing at Soldier Field, he looked incredulous as he blurted, “And now we’re moving to Arlington Heights?” Butkus also improvised during a sponsored toast to the crowd. When the setup was, “May our team be…” Butkus finished the sentence with, “Get better.”

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Roquan Smith has made big plays in big moments before, but this one was seemed to mean more.

After intercepting a Davis Mills pass at the Texans’ 30-yard line, taking a shot at a pick-6 and getting tackled at the 12 with 1:05 left in the fourth quarter of a tie game, the Bears’ All-Pro linebacker punctuated the celebration by winding up and heaving the ball into the south end zone stands.

“To all my supporters. I threw it to all of them,” Smith said with a big smile. “And saying F-you to all the ones that don’t.”

Smith’s big play not only set up the Bears for a 23-20 victory Sunday at Soldier Field on Cairo Santos’ 30-yard field goal as time expired, but capped a day of rejuvenation for Smith coming off an underwhelming start to the 2022 season. After sitting out practice all week because of a hip injury, Smith had 16 tackles and two tackles for loss in addition to the interception.

It was a welcome performance. The victory didn’t say much about the Bears — who won unimpressively — and even less about quarterback Justin Fields. But Smith’s breakout performance in his third game in Matt Ebeflus’ defense was the closest thing to defining.

“It’s big time,” Smith said. “I’ve showcased what I can do year-in and year-out. Not having [training] camp — first two games still working my way in. But hey — third game normally feeling myself out. So I think [from] here on out you can expect some big things.

“I feel like I can always step it up a notch. I’m always hungry to get better, because I’m on a one-year deal essentially. So I’m just trying to do everything I can to do what I need to do.”

It was the bestevidence yet that Smith can be as productive in Eberflus’ defense as All-Pro linebacker Shaquille Leonard was with the Colts.

“That, to me is getting there,” Eberflus said. “That position, it’s a hot position, and we need production out of that, and he certainly had a really good game [Sunday]. He’s getting comfortable in the defense.”

After a contentious contract “hold-in” during training camp that left him embittered and upset with Bears general manager Ryan Poles, Smith pledged to put it behind him and “bet on myself” in 2022. He didn’t consider the standout performance — or that celebratory heave — a message to Poles or the Bears.

“It’s a message to myself,” Smith said, “Just me telling myself what I always tell myself –I’m the best in it.”

Smith made his plays count. When the Texans had a first-and-goal at the 5-yard line late in the first quarter, Smith tackled rookie running back Dameon Pierce for a two-yard loss. Eddie Jackson intercepted Mills in the end zone on the next play.

When the Texans had a third-and-one from the Bears’ 2-yard line late in the third quarter, Smith tackled Pierce for a three-yard loss to force the Texans to settle for a field goal that tied the game 20-20.

And finally, on a third-and-one at the Texans’ 26 with 1:13 left in the fourth quarter, Smith stepped in front of running back Rex Burkhead to snare a Mills pass that had been tipped by defensive tackle Angelo Blackson at the one of scrimmage.

“I knew it was third-and-one –I figured the quarterback was gonna try to get the first down,” Smith said. “So I said, ‘OK, I’m gonna break on it and then I took a chance.”

The next thing he knew, the ball was in the stands.

“Then I wondered where the ball went,” he said. “I just tried to throw it so far to say everything. That was the best part … throwing the ball.”

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The manner in which the White Sox were eliminated from the American League Central title race Sunday disgusted acting manager Miguel Cairo.

“Today was the worst one,” Cairo said of the Sox’s sixth consecutive defeat — a lifeless 4-1 loss to the last-place Tigers that gave the Guardians the division title.

“That’s not acceptable. That’s not baseball. That’s not what the Chicago White Sox are about. It was terrible.”

In a fitting manner, the Sox wasted six shutout innings by ace Dylan Cease thanks to a feeble offense that produced one extra base hit (a home run by Yoan Moncada), a bullpen that allowed the tying and go-ahead runs to score in the seventh and eighth innings, and a wide throw by second baseman Romy Gonzalez on a potential double play that might have prevented three runs in the eighth.

In the bottom of the eighth, Adam Engel was nailed at first base after aborting his steal attempt for the first out with the Sox trailing by three runs.

“You can put it either way,” Cairo responded to a question about the Sox’s effort. “Execution. Effort. Everything.”

The loss sank the Sox (76-77) below .500 for the first time since Sept. 1. They entered last week hoping a six-game homestand would enable them to cut their four-game deficit. Instead they fell 10 games back — starting with a three-games sweep by the more-polished Guardians.

“I think we definitely didn’t play up to our abilities,” Cease said in assessing the season. “I’d have to really take a step back and look at it. I don’t really want to comment just off the wing, but I think we all know we had more in the tank.”

The Sox fell to 13-12 since Cairo took over for Tony La Russa on Aug. 30, but Sunday’s loss stood out in a manner that annoyed Cairo.

“You saw for six series the way you are supposed to play the game,” Cairo said. “And you saw (Sunday) it was totally different team. So, just better go back and get a day off (Monday) and regroup, and there’s nine more games. You got to finish strong and hard.”

Even with several players coping with an assortment of nagging injuries, Cairo doesn’t plan to shut anyone down.

“They are all playing, Tuesday until the last game (Oct. 5). So they better bring some effort. It was kind of embarrassing.”

Sunday’s loss marked the 12th time the Sox entered the seventh inning with a lead, only to lose the game. They also scored three runs or fewer for the 75th time in 153 games.

This marked the first time the Sox were swept in a homestead of at least six games since May 19-24, 1989, to the Blue Jays and Orioles.

During their current losing streak, the Sox lost two games after Cease departed with leads.

“It was tough,” Cease said of the general disappointment of the week. “After a disappointing season, for it to be sort of capped off by this, it’s tough. I still like us to finish strong with our last nine, so I’m looking forward to that.”

While Cease spoke, many players packed their equipment in preparation for the last trip to Minnesota and San Diego, with the pounding of attendants removing mud from cleats dominating the sound inside the clubhouse.

“We’re definitely disappointed,” Cease said. “We take the game serious. We compete, so when you compete and it doesn’t work out, it’s frustrating. We’re disappointed, but we got a lot of professional guys here, guys with a lot of big league time. We’re not sulking. We’re showing up to play the rest of the games.”

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The excuses and explanations cannot be endless. There has to be an expiration date on them.

The reality is that this season is going badly for Bears quarterback Justin Fields, and choosing to be in denial isn’t productive. He was a disaster against the Texans on Sunday, and it’s almost impossible for the Bears to win when he plays like that.

Almost.

Roquan Smith bailed him out with a late interception to set up Cairo Santos’ game-winning field goal for a 23-20 escape.

Fields had little to do with that outcome.

He completed 8 of 17 passes for 106 yards with two interceptions for a career-worst 27.7 passer rating and opened his self-assessment with, “Everybody in the stadium knows I didn’t play as well as I wanted to,” but quickly let loose how he really felt.

“Straight up, I just played like — I want to say the A-word, but I’m not gonna do that,”Fields said. “I just played like trash. I played terrible. Really just gotta be better.”

When asked what specifically he needs to fix, he answered, “A lot of things.”

The Bears went up 10-0 after two possessions, but nearly blew it by the end of the first quarter. Fields was deep in his own end of the field and overthrew tight end Cole Kmet over the middle for an interception by rookie safety Jalen Pitre. The Texans had first-and-goal at the 5-yard line when Eddie Jackson wiped it out with an interception in the end zone.

He sailed another one early in the fourth that could’ve cost the Bears the game. On third-and-six at his own 39-yard line, Fields threw too deep for Darnell Mooney and again into Pitre’s arms. The Texans got to the Bears’ 35-yard line before the defense again rescued Fields by pushing them out of field-goal range.

Fields’ poor performance is more significant than the Bears eking one out against the lowly Texans. In the long-term aspiration to contend for a championship, this victory is a footnote to Fields’ struggles — not the other way around.

Having a franchise quarterback matters more than anything in the NFL, and the single greatest priority for the Bears this season is to determine whether Fields is that guy.

It doesn’t look promising at the moment.

He was the only starter in the NFL to throw fewer than 20 passes in the first two weeks, doing so twice, and did it again Sunday. He had a 100-yard cushion for last place in yards passing. The Bears can wave around a 2-1 start, but this isn’t a template for anything legitimate.

Fields’ debacle Sunday could be brushed aside if it was an aberration, but this game fits painfully well with his young career.

For the season, Fields has now completed 51.1% of his passes for 297 yards, thrown two touchdowns against four interceptions and posted a 50.0 passer rating. His circumstances certainly worked against him as a rookie, when he threw 10 interceptions and had a 72.8 rating, but coordinator Luke Getsy’s offense is supposed to be tailored to his skills.

Fields isn’t claiming he needs more time to acclimate to the scheme.

“It’s early right now, but I can guarantee you all the guys in the locker room on the offense aren’t gonna make that excuse,” he said. “You can really throw that out the window for me.”

While it’s obvious this is a mess, it’s not so clear how to untangle it.

Fields certainly has played his part in it, and 14 interceptions in 15 games is concerning. But when he sits in the pocket forever, is it indecision or has general manager Ryan Poles not given him receivers that can get open? Mooney is their most accomplished receiver, and he’s in his third season.

When he hurries a throw or almost instantly takes off scrambling, is that impatience or is he smartly countering his fledgling offensive line? He got sacked five times and was under pressure on the interception in the fourth.

“On any unit, it’s always everybody,” Eberflus said, echoing the empty answers Matt Nagy always gave about Mitch Trubisky. “You can never just point to one guy. I don’t think that’s the answer. It never is. It’s the protection, it’s the route combinations being in sync — it’s everything.”

Everything includes him and Getsy.

It accomplishes nothing to take the ball out of Fields’ hands and run draw plays on third down, as the Bears did twice Sunday.

And it’s even more egregious that Eberflus ran the clock out at halftime with three timeouts in his pocket. He went conservative, clinging to the hope of merely a 14-13 deficit rather than give Fields the shot to lead a drive. Eberflus admitted he mismanaged that scenario, saying, “I’ve gotta be better.”

The best-case scenario for the Bears is for Fields to be their answer. It would solve the biggest problem any team faces. Eberflus and Poles haven’t given Fields a proper opportunity to prove that, but he also hasn’t provided much evidence that he’d be able to make the most of it anyway.

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Khalil Herbert walked into the Bears’ locker room after the best game of his career, grabbed his phone and texted David Montgomery.

“That was for him,” Herbert said.

Montgomery, the Bears’ starting running back, had left Sunday’s 23-20 win against the Texans in the first quarter with injuries to his right knee and ankle. On a pass play, Montgomery was pushed by Texans safety Jalen Pitre back onto defensive tackleMichael Dwumfour, who rolled up on his leg.

Montgomery’s injury looked ugly. While the Bears’ locker room was somber, head coach Matt Eberflus tried to paint his situation in hopeful, albeit vague, terms. He called Montgomery “day-to-day” and said the Bears would reevaluate him Monday.

“It’s a positive, for sure,” he said.

Herbert more than filled in for Montgomery, running 20 times for 157 yards.

“It’s like he was running for two back there,” right guard Lucas Patrick said. “What he did is special. Like any back, to run for that [yardage] is special.

“But to step up when one of our offensive leaders goes down and to do that and say, ‘Don’t worry –I got us,’ it invigorates all of us. It inspires all of us.”

Herbert is the ninth Bears running back ever to run for more than 155 yards in a game. The Bears’ 281 rushing yards Sunday were the most they’ve totaled since Sept. 30, 1984, against the Cowboys. They averaged seven yards per carry, the 11th-best clip in franchise history, against the Texans.

Herbert led the way.

“[I’m] proud of the way he ran the ball,” quarterback Justin Fields said. “Proud of the way our offensive line blocked for him. Just proud.”

Their three longest plays were all runs –a 29-yard Fields scramble, a 41-yard Equanimeous St. Brown fly sweep and Herbert’s career-long 52-yarder on the Bears’ first offensive play of the second half.

“A lot of things have to happen wrong,” Texans coach Lovie Smith said, “for them to be able to get some of those plays.”

Herbert made an impact immediately. The Bears handed off to him on three of the next four plays after Montgomery limped off the field. He gained eight yards on the first carry and 11 yards on each of the next two, including a bruising touchdown.

“It really just gets the juices going, gets everybody back in the game,” Herbert said. “We’re just trying to find a way to win anyway we can.”

With the Bears’ pass game stuck in the stone age, Herbert figures to get plenty of opportunities as long as Montgomery is out. He’s been efficient all season –he averaged 6.4 yards per carry, the fourth-most in the league, entering Sunday’s game — but had run only 11 times.

Herbert’s 20 carries Sunday were three short of a career high set last year, when he was the Bears’ lead back for four games with Montgomery hurt.

“Once you get in a rhythm you start feeling things, you start feeling hot, and you’re able to just do stuff,” Herbert said.

Montgomery, whom the Bears consider a team leader, is in the last year of his rookie contract. He was coming off one of his best career games; he ran 15 times for 122 yards against the Packers.

“[Montgomery’s] play style represents a lot of what we want everyone to play like,” tight end Cole Kmet said. “And you see how physical he plays. Khalil comes in and does a great job. That’s pretty cool, to see guys step up like that.”

Herbert, who admitted to being more sore than usual after the game, will have to step up again.

“Really just making the most of my opportunities,” he said. “I come in with that mindset every week, whether it’s one carry, 20 carries. Just try to make the most of that, and make a play with what I get.”

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